Aftershock
by Promised Flower
Summary: The Exile isn't as alone as she thinks. Set after the final ordeal on Dantooine. Canonically, it was Mical who comforted her. Being an Atton fan, I have remedied that.


I've had this sitting on my computer for well over a year now, so I figured I'd post it. I haven't edited it or anything since then.

I wrote this after being frustrated that it was Mical who talked to the Exile after she was attacked by the Jedi masters on Dantooine. I always felt it should have been Atton, so I fixed it.

This is the same Exile I use in my other posts, but this doesn't necessarily fit anywhere specific.

* * *

**Aftershock**

Atton groaned as the world began to come back into focus, trying desperately to remember what had happened. Damn, his head felt like it had been split open and then kicked across the room. He waited for a moment, holding still as his body ached and the fuzzy memories trickled back into his head.

He felt the floor as blazing cold against his throbbing head. Last he remembered, he had been sitting in the pilot's chair, priming the ship to take off as soon as Case returned from her meeting with the Jedi masters in the rebuilt Enclave. The thought of her going to see them alone – as she had insisted she go – unsettled him.

He had told her, warned her before she left that he had a bad feeling about it. But she had refused to take anyone with her, and so Atton had settled for getting everything ready for an emergency takeoff.

He had been going over the takeoff procedures when he had sensed someone behind him. He had whipped around, leaping out of his seat just in time to see a long, white quarterstaff thrust at his head. He blocked and grabbed the weapon, his eyes locked on the attacker. It was a woman clad in white robes; one of Atris' Handmaidens. He had scowled, angry at their being followed.

Atton had then wrenched and twisted the staff, ripping it from her. He had not been prepared for the immediate subsequent blow to his temple when it came from out of the blue, delivered by someone unknown. The next thing he knew he was laying face down on the hard metal floor of the cockpit, his head pounding as if someone had taken a force pike to his skull. Which, in all likelihood, they had.

He groaned again, feeling the scratchy grooves of the floor pressed against his throbbing head as he forced his arms to push his chest off the ground, knowing that if the ship had been attacked that Case would be in trouble as well. He had to get to her, warn her of what was going on before she walked blindly into a trap, as per her habit.

He was sure that the Handmaidens had attacked to get to Kreia; Atris hated Sith and would do whatever it took to take them down. And yet Atton doubted the woman was more than a step removed from a Sith herself, despite her unhealthy obsession with white. White robes, white walls, white, white, white.

Footsteps reverberated through the ground as Atton rose to a kneeling position. _Oh, gods, don't let it be Mical_, he thought to himself, _If I have to have that idiot help me up, there's be hell to pay._ He lurched forward as he tried to stand, wincing at the unexpected pain in his side; he had broken a couple ribs, it felt like.

Two smaller, strong arms caught him as he stumbled. He found himself looking down the familiar back of Case Roanoke. He automatically wrapped his arms around her, holding her close… for balance, of course. She was safe. He felt his muscles relax some with that knowledge.

"What happened?" Case asked as she pulled back to look at him. Her arms still grasped his shoulders and his waist.

"Atris sent some of her princesses to grab Kreia. They got me before I saw them coming," Atton said, gritting his teeth in frustration. He should have been able to stop them. Not that he cared what happened to Kreia, but because he knew Case would want to follow them and protect the old hag, which meant more trouble all around. Besides, he wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of going back to Telos. One jail sentence per planet was his quota.

"Atris," Case said, her face showing her surprise, "But she'll…"

"She'll deal with Kreia the way she does with all Sith," Atton said.

"They'll execute her," Case said, biting her bottom lip as she always did when perplexed.

Frankly, Atton couldn't bring himself to care less. No, that wasn't entirely true; a galaxy without that Sith Queen would be much happier place. But…

"Our Force bond. If she dies…" Case trailed off, averting her eyes from Atton.

"Yeah… I know," his voice was hard, his eyes dark at the thought. _That_ was the only reason harm to Kreia concerned him.

"We have to save her. We have to get to Telos. I have a feeling that the end will begin there. Most roads lead to Telos, it seems. Are you well enough to fly?" Case asked, looking him up and down to assess his condition.

"Yeah, sure thing. We should check the crew and the ship first, though," he said, "You know, make sure no one's lying in a closet bleeding to death." He knew that there could be more intruders on the ship, and the last thing he wanted was to be brought down by a trap. As far as the crew, he wouldn't mind so much if that blond idiot had cracked his skull a little. Or a lot. Whichever.

"I hope they're all okay," Case said, her face concerned.

Suddenly it dawned on Atton; Case had gone to _him_ before anyone else, and he was on the opposite end of the ship that the entrance ramp was. He looked down at Case, who was now checking his wounded head. He winced as her fingers pressed the temple that had been pummeled. He didn't care. She had wanted to make sure he was safe before checking anything else. The thought made his heart lurch as he watched her assessing his injury, her face not far from his own.

A strong urge to lean forward an inch and kiss her swept through him, but he fought it down; it was not the time or the place for that, and it was probably the influence of the concussion he was sure to develop. But still he couldn't help the absolute relief at finding her alive.

Instead he settled on lifting his fingerless-gloved hand and brushing a lock of hair away from of her eyes, letting his fingers trace the side of her face as it fell back to his side. A metaphorical sigh rushed through his body and he realized just how badly things could have gone. He tightened his grip on Case, his face grim.

Her lips were chapped red, her hair unkempt and windblown as he looked down at her. Yet she was beautiful to him. Atton remembered when he had first seen her on Peragus, a vision in khaki skivvies that floated through his cell door like a cantina dancer sent from above. Hell, that had been almost a year ago, he realized with a shock.

And now here they were, about to skip back to Telos and rescue a Sith who wanted everyone but Case dead. He marveled at how his life had turned out. His mother would have had an aneurism if she knew what he was doing now. He prayed she never knew; he liked being able to breathe.

"Let's get you to the medical bay," she said, shifting so that her arm was around his waist while one of his arms draped over her shoulder, taking some of his weight.

"Nah, I should check the ship," Atton said, and yet he did not pull away from her. He was torn between checking the hyper drive (they'd just replaced the stupid thing a week ago) and sticking around to make sure no lurking evil tried to strangle Case. _Just what are you going to do to protect her? _his mind asked snidely, _You'd be lucky to withstand a light breeze in this condition_.

"Not a chance; you could have a cerebral hemorrhage or something," Case said, pulling him forward. Atton snorted dubiously.

"Look, you don't have to carry me," Atton grumbled as he helped him down the hall.

Case shook her head. "You're dizzy, idiot."

He couldn't deny that was true. Even as he walked, he saw and felt the world swirl around him as though he had had a few too many pints of Tarisian ale. It was not the normally pleasant feeling; it was keeping him from protecting her.

"I've never felt steadier on my feet in my life," Atton insisted, straightening somewhat.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Case let go suddenly. Atton saw the world wrench sharply to the left as he headed for the metal wall of the hall. "Frack!" he swore as he began to tip. And then her arms were around him once more, pulling him tightly to her body. Atton blinked down at her.

"Maybe after a couple hours at a cantina," Case said. Then, with a small smile, "Which probably _was_ most of your life, so you may have a point."

Atton mumbled rude things under his breath as he allowed her to help him toward the med bay. The door was open, the bright lights within revealing Mical, who was lifting himself off the ground much as Atton had done. Although he did it gracefully and without any help, Atton noticed with a frown. Trust the kid to show him up even after a surprise attack of crazy albino women.

"Mical, are you okay?" Case asked hurriedly as she led Atton over to the medical bed.

Atton sat down, reluctantly releasing Case from his grasp. Her arm stayed around him as she looked up at Mical.

"I don't believe I've been injured too badly," Mical said, looking back at her, "Are _you_ alright?"

"I'm fine. I wasn't here. Atris and her lackeys raided the ship and kidnapped Kreia." Atton felt her arm tighten around him. "Check Atton over and make sure nothing important broke. I'm going to check on everyone else."

Atton scowled at her. "I told you, I'm—"

"Fine, I know. Mical, don't let him do anything stupid while I'm gone," Case said.

"Very well," Mical replied politely. Then under his breath and yet still polite, "Though that may be difficult."

Case looked back at Atton for a moment, her eyes concerned, before she turned and ran out of the med bay. Atton watched her go. There was something wrong with her, he had noticed. Something was off; he wondered what had happened in that Enclave that would unsettle her so much. If those Jedi had done anything to her there would be hell to pay, he swore to himself.

"Atton, if you could let me take your pulse…" Mical said, walking over.

Damned if he was going to let Mical play doctor while there were important things to do, Atton stood slowly, making sure he wouldn't topple over. The last thing he wanted was to get help from the puppy-eyed disciple. His head had settled somewhat, but for good measure he sped up the healing that the Force had already begun, pulling at it to make it go faster.

"Atton, don't stand. You may have a concussion…"

"Shut up. I have to check the ship for damage and rigging. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be blown into oblivion after coming this far because one of those albino princesses felt like splitting a wire or jamming a wrench into the hyperdrive system," Atton snapped, shoving past Mical and out into the hall.

The blond Jedi didn't protest as Atton made his way to the engine room, passing T3-M4 on his way. The little droid was already to work on a damaged portion of the holo map. At least it was doing something useful, Atton groused to himself. A little farther he saw HK-47 polishing his guns. Where had _it_ been when they were being attacked? He glanced at the rusty droid suspiciously as he passed.

When he reached the engine room everything seemed to be in order. He closed his eyes and listened to the ship, blocking out the noises of the robots, the Jedi, and the others aboard the vessel. He heard it's chirping between systems, the hum of the lights, the clacking of the fuel valves. It all sounded intact and active. But wait; there was one sound that was off. After months of flying the thing, he knew every tick and twitter of the ship.

Opening his eyes, Atton strode over to the hatch that led to the ship's actual engine. He opened it and thrust his legs through, carefully lowering himself to avoid another dizzy spell. Luckily, his Force Heal was taking care of most of his physical problems. He made his way over to the cooling unit and eyed it critically. There was a whining noise that shouldn't have been there.

Aha. Reaching out, he took hold of a red wire. On it was a black clip. He knew immediately what it was; though it resembled a regular wire clip, if it had been left there it would have cut off the cooling from the engine. The ship wouldn't have been able to take off, and if it had by some miracle made if off the ground the explosion would have take out a good chunk of the planet.

Jerking the clip off of the wire, Atton turned and climbed back into the engine room, closing the hatch behind him. He hurried back to the cockpit, knowing Case would want to take off quickly. Mira was up and about when he passed through the main room of the _Hawk. _Bao-Dur would probably be continuing his repair of the ship from so long ago.

The cockpit was empty when he reached it. Quickly making his way to the pilot seat, Atton began to ready the ship for takeoff. His hands flew across the controls with the precision of a well-seasoned professional. Soon the engine was purring with life under his administrations, singing its tune to him as he hit the throttle.

_How soon can you get us out of here?_ Case's voice asked silently inside his head.

Atton gave a quick roll of his eyes and hit the comm. button. "Two seconds or less," he said. _Jedi, _he thought with a snort.

"Thank you," Case responded.

In no time at all they left the planet's surface and shot into space and past the atmosphere of Dantooine. Atton couldn't help but feel apprehension as they got farther and farther away from the planet; something very wrong had happened with Case and the Jedi masters, he was sure. He had a very bad feeling about going to Telos as well.

When the light blinked on that let him know they were clear to jump into hyperspace, Atton paused, his hand just above the switch. It would change everything, he knew, once they reached Telos. She would be different. Further away from him.

He clenched his jaw, trying to push such thoughts out of his mind, but they stuck like a tak on a speeder windshield. He hit the button, feeling the familiar jerk as they jumped. It was up to her to decide where she would go and if she would stay. He couldn't force her to do anything, and if he tried she would only run from him.

An odd feeling tickled the back of his mind as he leaned back in his seat after putting the ship on autopilot. Case. Something was wrong. He quickly whipped out his comm. and called Mical up on it. The blond appeared after a few minutes. Atton scowled at him when he finally arrived looking thoughtful and anxious.

"'Bout time you got here. I need to check on something. Don't let us hit anything or drop out of hyperspeed; the engine's a little touchy today," Atton said, rising from his seat.

"Of course," Mical said, walking past Atton as he made his way to the pilot's chair.

Atton strode quickly toward the door, intent on reaching Case.

"Oh, and Atton," Mical said. Atton halted his walk and turned around, irritated at being delayed. She needed him. "Case is going through some rough things. I think it would be best if she was left alone for a while," he said pointedly.

Anger clouded Atton's vision as he realized Mical had spoken to her first. Who knew what went on in there between them while she was so emotionally unstable? And then to warn Atton to stay away from her when _he_ had gone to her? It made his blood boil. But a full on fight would only make things worse at the moment, so Atton settled on snipes.

"Hey, if she needs me I'm there for her," he said, trying to sound casual and failing.

"I was just suggesting that you give her some space," Mical said, his voice curt.

"Oh, like you did? Did she want space then?" Atton sneered, trying to hide how that knowledge affected him.

"That was not the same. I simply encouraged her and let her know I am here for her," Mical said, his tone turned cold, "I doubt you want the same thing. Undoubtedly her… traits don't mean the same to both of us."

In an instant Atton was standing in front of Mical, his hand bunched in the shirt material at his throat, eyes flashing. Mical stared at him in surprise that quickly melted into calm disapproval.

"You have _no_ idea what she means to me." Atton's lips curled back in a snarl. He let go of Mical with a shove, turned sharply and strode out of the cockpit.

He was seething as he made his way to the girls' dormitory. How dare he? That schutta. To insinuate that all he wanted Case for was some kind of physical gratification when she was hurting made him see red at the very thought.

And yet… in the beginning that was almost all it was. But that hadn't lasted long. That thought was enough to make him calm down enough to speak civilly when he approached the closed door of the bunk. The last thing she needed was him venting his anger.

Deciding not to knock, Atton slid the door open as quietly as possible, allowing it to close behind him. Case was sitting on the floor in a meditative position, her back facing him. He noticed that her hair was down, something he had rarely seen before. Normally it was pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face when in combat. Streaks of lighter blond could be seen amongst the darker strands of darker hair. He wondered briefly if it was natural. He had never thought to ask.

"Have you ever knocked in your life?" Case asked, surprising Atton.

He looked at her back and shrugged, even knowing she couldn't see him; she would feel it. "Nah, takes away the element of surprise. Usually, anyway," he said, keeping his tone light.

"I see," she said shortly.

Atton paused for a few heartbeats before swallowing hard. "Do you want me to go?" he asked, putting a hand on the door.

"No," Case said, her voice slightly desperate. Atton looked at her in surprise as she stood and turned faster than most humans could move. "Please stay." She spoke quietly, almost as if talking louder would scare him away.

Taking his hand off the door, Atton scanned her appearance. She looked… haggard, was the best word for it. Her eyes were circled by dark smudges that told of her many sleepless nights, but it was her eyes that screamed about what had happened. They looked both terrified and angry at the same time. His heart lurched as he thought of what might have happened and what it had done to her.

Tears began to leak from her eyes, startling Atton; she never cried. Without hesitation, Atton took three long strides forward and his arms were around her, holding her close, one hand going around her shaking shoulders, the other cupping the back of her neck as she leaned into him, breathing unsteadily.

"Hey, it's okay," he murmured into her hair, her head tucked against his chest. He felt her chest move erratically as she fought to keep her sobs at bay. A few tore through her defenses, wrenching at his heart with every sound.

"No, it's not okay," she said, her voice thick.

"I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you," he said determinedly, soothingly.

Case wrenched herself out of his arms, stumbling back a few steps. Her eyes were wild, angry, pained. Atton stared at her as she stood in front of him, hair fly-away, breathing heavily.

"_Why_ are you here? Why are any of you with me? What kind of masochistic psychos would follow me to hell without even _questioning_ why?" She was nearly shouting, looking hysterical.

That worried Atton far more than her sobs had; breakdowns were never something she allowed to happen, and certainly not to this magnitude. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it! None of you would follow me if you were in your right minds! None of you are _that_ crazy." Case began to shake.

Atton took a step toward her, but she backed away. He halted, waiting for her to continue and alleviate his confusion.

"Mira would have left faster than I could blink, Bao-Dur would never have gotten involved in war again, Mandalore couldn't have left his men behind when they need him so much, and Visas should have jumped ship when she realized I was on a suicide mission!

"Kreia would have stuck around; she wanted all this to happen. Mical, maybe; he was a Jedi padawan and this is what they did, I guess. And you were ready to take off so long ago! You would have been gone if Kreia hadn't blackmailed you," Case rambled, "And I let you stay, like an idiot, to go to your death."

At the mention of Mical, Atton felt his jealousy and anger swell again; she thought that idiot would stay with her while he ran away? And what was that about him dying? She was making no sense.

Despair settled over Atton's heart; did she truly believe he would leave her so easily? Back then he probably would have been gone in a heartbeat, but not now. If she still hadn't seen how much she meant to him… why else would he have stayed? She should've known it wasn't his moral conscience.

"And I let it happen to all of you. Again. I let it happen again. But this is so much worse," she whispered, hugging herself tightly as she dropped her head.

"Case, what are you talking about?" Atton asked again, his body tense as he watched her suffer.

"Me, I'm talking about me," she said, lifting her gaze to meet his, "And how I'm death walking." She finished with a darkly sardonic tone.

Atton's resolve hardened. He walked toward her again, ignoring her imploring look to stay away, ignoring her outstretched hands that tried to keep him at bay. She even used a small Force Push that he blocked easily. In a split second he was on her, pulling her to him harshly, his arms around her once more.

"I'm with you past the end," he said, his voice hoarse even to his own ears. Case once again tried to pull away, but he held her tighter to himself. Her struggles ceased quickly and suddenly she was holding him with as much strength as he was her.

"_That's_ what I mean. Of course you'll follow me," she said, her voice despairing.

"What does that mean?" he demanded, still not relinquishing his hold at all.

"You have no choice."

Atton did pull back at that, but he kept his arms around her. Her face was a mixture of fear and sorrow as she looked back at him.

"The…Jedi masters, they told me that I make bonds easily through the Force. That was why so many followed me in the war. Revan is the only one better at it than I am. The people I'm around can't help but follow me, even if it's against what they want," she said, her voice devoid of emotion.

What she said rang true to Atton; he knew that if she decided to attack someone on the street that he would feel compelled to help her. And yet he did not believe it was more than that they stuck together. Yet he felt sure she also would have helped him fight someone even if he had attacked first, and then she would have beat his ass. And he certainly _was_ planning to leave her back on Telos.

"I'm not following you because some fracking invisible power is making me," Atton growled.

Case looked down. She didn't believe him.

Atton searched wildly for something to convince her. He came up with nothing but more words she would doubt. "I don't care what they told you. That's not why I'm still here," he said with a slight snarl. He remembered why he hated Jedi so much, present company and himself excepted.

"Atton," she said, her voice unsteady, "I'm a void in the Force; a black hole. I cut myself off from it when the Force bonds I made with my soldiers were cut off at Malachor. Now I drain everyone around me. They saw the death of life and of the Force in me."

"That's katarn shit and you know it," he snapped, hoping to knock her out of whatever place her head was at. That was not the Case he knew, she didn't believe what people said without question, even Jedi.

"That's just it; they were right. I've seen it ever since I got back from the Outer Rim, around people again," she said.

"The Jedi aren't right as much as they fracking think," Atton said angrily, his hands gripping her shoulders, wanting to shake some sense into her.

"Even Kreia confirmed it before she…killed them. She drained them, like I do, but so much faster... they were left there, not dead, empty," Case whispered, horror filling her voice as her eyes clouded with images Atton would never see.

"Stop it," Atton growled.

Case tried to breathe, forcing air into her lungs. Atton felt it then, the tip of the pain she carried within her. It was immense and all consuming. He had felt it before, but this was so sharp.

He remembered something he had heard when they were on Telos, leaving the Ithorian compound. Chobo and Moza had been discussing Case. Chobo said he had felt something like it only once before; when he had stepped onto the ashen land of the dying planet he was trying to save.

Atton would bring her back to life if he had to go to hell and back. She wouldn't die because of some damn thing a Jedi told her. Or a Sith, he thought darkly.

After a moment of silence Case seemed to calm down a bit. She was only shaking slightly now, and her eyes were a little more serene. Atton still held her, unwilling to let her out of his grasp for even a moment in her current condition.

"I'm sorry. I guess I lost it," she said finally, sighing deeply, shakily.

"Don't ever apologize for stuff like that."

"I just needed to talk to someone." Her eyes slid away from his face.

His own features darkened as he thought about who she _had_ talked to before him. "Mical said you were in pretty bad shape," Atton said slowly, not wanting to upset her more and yet needing to know…

"Mical… he's a good man," Ava said softly, sighing, "and easy to talk to."

Atton felt his heart sink. He kicked himself for feeling jealous; if Mical or anyone could help her, he wouldn't stand in their way. Or at least he'd try not to, depending on _how_ Mical would "help" her.

"If you want me to get him…" Atton managed to grind out, every fiber of his scoundrel's body screaming out against it.

"No, don't go," Case said, gripping him tightly.

"I won't," Atton said strongly.

"Mical is wonderful, but he doesn't understand always. He's a great cheering section, and he knows exactly what to say, but this is beyond that. And I couldn't make him listen to this," she admitted.

"But you felt I could take the blow?" A smile touching the corners of his mouth: a grim smile.

Case looked up at him, seeming worried that she had put too much on him. Atton could feel her anxiousness at the prospect.

"You can tell me anything," he murmured.

Nodding, Case gently moved toward the bed. Atton followed, keeping one hand on her arm. They sat down, Case dropping her head into her hands. Atton cautiously put an arm around her shoulders. She didn't shake him off.

"There's no good way for this to end." Her voice was muffled in her palms.

"Sure there is, we just haven't gotten there yet," Atton reassured her, hoping he was right.

"Atton, if what they said is true, I can't stay the way I am. If my wound in the Force will do what they say it will do, I'll have to end up one of two ways."

He didn't want to hear them, already knowing what they would have to be. The thought sent anger and fear coursing through his veins. She would have to be cut off from the Force completely or die.

He knew he would do anything to stop either, especially the latter. Case had been hurt so much without the Force, and the thought of him still being able to feel it while she drowned in the numbness without it was unbearable to him.

Suddenly, as he looked at her and thought of their impending journey to Telos, he felt the end of their journey rushing up to him like the tide roaring against the sand, threatening to pull her away from him forever. What reason would she have to stay with him? None, that's what.

And yet… the end of their mission was not so close, he knew. It was simply the end of their time together. Resolve hardened his features as he swore to himself that he would not let her go without him following, damn whether she wanted him to or not.

"You don't believe I'm with you because I want to be." It wasn't a question.

"How can I?" she asked miserably.

"Case…" He gently moved her hands and caught her chin in his fingers, tilting her face up to his. Her eyes were intense as they flitted across his face, her mouth set in a determined line.

Atton leaned in and kiss her softly, barely brushing his lips against hers. A shock traveled through his body at the contact. Desire tore through him, but he beat it down. Now was not the time; she needed a friend, not a lustful idiot.

When he moved back to gauge her reaction, he was unprepared to feel her trembling beneath his fingers. Her face was unreadable as she sat there, silent. Atton did not regret it; he only hoped she would take it as what it had been and nothing more – comfort.

"Case, I'm not leaving you," he said, his voice a low rumble.

"You're not," she repeated in a whisper, voice filled with wonder as she watched him.

"No." He touched her mouth with his once more, just as gently as the first time. His other hand moved up to her throat, gently caressing her, his thumb tracing her jaw before settling on the soft spot just underneath her chin, his other fingers spread over the side of her neck.

Atton began to pull back. Without a word, Case followed him as he moved away from her, closing the gap between their mouths, delivering a shattering jolt that both felt rattling their bones as fire traveled through their bodies. The jolt decimated what remaining boundaries Atton had thrown up around himself.

Deserting caution and everything inside of him that warned him to stop, Atton crushed his mouth to Case's. It felt as though a sonic mine had gone off in his head, and the shock sent him reeling as he felt her respond. Her hands rushed to his head and tangled in his hair, bringing him as close as humanly possible.

Atton hugged her waist with one arm and crushed her against his chest. He felt her heart hammering wildly inside of her, much as his own was doing. Letting go of her lips, he kissed her jaw, her neck, anywhere within reach. He wanted to show her how much she meant, to show her he wasn't leaving.

Case took his face in her hands and brought him back to her mouth, growling against his lips. He chuckled in the back of his throat, earning another indignant noise from her. His hand against her neck moved to the back of her head and began to rub the base of her skull. She parted her lips slightly as she ran her tongue over them subconsciously. Atton felt lust rear up inside of him along with passion that threatened to burn his insides. He battled for control, nearly losing.

He pushed her back onto the bed, on arm resting just over her head to keep from smashing her, the other sliding down from her neck, over her shoulders, and slowly down her side until it hooked around her hip, pulling her closer as he tried to hold himself back as much as humanly possible with her soft mouth against his and the length of her body pressing into him.

Angling his mouth against hers to deepen the kiss, he felt her hands grip his shoulders tightly as she followed his lead. Atton traced her side once again until his hand reached her ribs. He let his thumb extend, resting just below her breasts, brushing the flesh there but never going higher.

Suddenly, as if to add fuel to the fire, he felt her tongue once again at his lips, only this time it was flitting cautiously over them, not moving away. Wrestling with the intense desire to kiss the hell out of her, Atton just barely held back. Was she _trying_ to make him lose it?

He opened his mouth and allowed her in, tasting her own lust, passion, and excitement. She was careful at first and glaringly new to what he was doing to her, to what she was doing to him. He could fix that.

A wave of possessiveness swept over Atton as he felt her explore his mouth. He felt almost primal triumph at being the first man – to his knowledge – to kiss her like that. It was followed by an iron will to be the _last_ man she kissed as well. He would have to think that over later; at the moment he was hard pressed to think about anything other than the soft body beneath him.

Atton felt a slight shock when she nipped at his bottom lip; he snapped. He shoved her tongue back into her mouth with his own and pressed her into the bed, the hand that was not above her head traced her side.

His mouth traveled down to the soft spot just beneath her ear. He grazed his teeth along her earlobe, eliciting a shuddering gasp from her that sounded like his name. He grinned as she writhed beneath him, heat coursing through his body at the friction.

He pushed down on her, pinning her effectively between him and the mattress. One of her legs, as if with a will of its own, wrapped around his waist, the other being pinned between them. Atton moved more fully atop her, unable to get enough of her. His mouth rushed back to hers, his tongue sliding between her soft lips.

Without warning a siren blared in the room, reverberating through their skulls as they jumped apart. Case leaped up, knocking Atton off the bed. He grabbed her and pulled her with him to the hard metal floor. He quickly stood and helped her up, glaring around the room as if he could threaten the ship into silence.

The siren shut off, leaving deafening silence in its absence. Atton glanced down at the Case, who looked back up at him quizzically. Both were breathing hard, irregular breaths from the kiss. Case blushed as he gave her a wolfish grin and leaned down…

"Resigned admission: Master, I have infuriated the ship," came a robotic voice from the doorway.

Case jerked away from Atton, much to his annoyance. He glared at HK-47, who stood irritatingly tall in just inside the room. He _hated _droids.

"Statement: Master, you have too much blood in your face. Unveiled threat: has this meatbag injured you?" the robot's voice lowered to a grinding noise at the end of the sentence.

"Uh, no," Case said, turning beat red under Atton and HK's stares.

"Disappointed Response: Oh. I was so hoping to get in some target practice. Query: what _did_ he do to you, Master?"

"Um, what's going on?" Case said, hurriedly changing the subject, "We heard the alarm go off. Everything okay?"

"Apologetic Response: yes, everything is fine, Master. I merely… tripped over the T3 unit and _accidentally_ hit the ship's warning bell," HK said carefully. Atton snorted, willing to bet that the "trip" had been more of a lunge; the two droids didn't get along well. Atton hated them both, one more than the other at the moment.

"Okay, fine. Just make sure everyone knows it was a false alarm," Case said, putting a hand to her cheek in an effort to cool down.

Atton glared as the droid cheerfully agreed to her command ("Yes, Master! And if you need to dispose of any meatbags, do not hesitate to call") and left the room. He scowled at the now wide-open door, knowing there would be no going back to their previous activity for some time. They had be getting close to Telos.

"Atton."

He looked back at the Jedi Exile, her face having finally begun to return to normal. "Yeah?"

Her fist connected hard with his arm. He yelped and jumped away from her, feeling the sting from where her knuckles had connected with his bone. "What was that for?!" he shouted.

"Why didn't you do that before, when we had more time?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Atton blinked at her, forgetting the dull throb in his upper arm. "I didn't know you wanted me to," he responded honestly. And he never knew how she felt about that blond gamorrean flying the ship at the moment. "You weren't exactly all over me, either."

In response, Case stood on her tiptoes and kissed him briefly on the lips before pulling back to smile at him. "Well, now you know," she said. "Although we don't have much time now…"

Irate at the thought that he could have kissed her earlier and didn't, Atton frowned. They would have had more time to… get to know each other if he hadn't been so caught up in things. Or if she had just given him a clear signal, he groused mentally. He never knew if she liked him or loathed him, which seemed to be the two extremes with them.

Grinning at her, he raised his hand to gently brush at a tendril of hair resting against her cheek. She smiled, closing her eyes as she leaned into his hand.

"I'm sticking around for a while, so we can try this again," he said, grinning at her deviously.

"Why later?"

"Because the idiot is coming," Atton said, stepping back, away from her just as Mical rounded the corner and came into view.

"We are nearing Telos. It seems there is trouble going on," Mical said as he entered the room. Suddenly noticing Case's red face and Atton's smug look, he gazed at them with an unreadable expression.

"Right. I'll be there in a second," Case said.

Mical nodded, shooting a look at Atton that he did not return, busy grinning at Case, and turned to go back to the cockpit.

"Who's going to break the news to him?" Atton said, trying to joke despite the worry he felt at nearing Telos.

"What do you mean?" Case asked.

"Come on," Atton said, "You have to have noticed."

"He's my student," Case said, catching on.

"So am I," Atton pointed out.

Case blushed furiously at his words. "Yeah, well, it's different. You were never a formal Jedi, and you're nearly as good as me at some things," she said in a rush.

"_Nearly_? I can beat you with both hands tied behind my back in hand-to-hand," Atton said smugly, his eyes glinting.

"I'm not going to touch that one," Case muttered. Then, "You know what I mean."

"And you know what _I _mean," Atton retorted. "But if you want to let him find out all by himself, that's fine. Or I could tell him."

"No! No," Case said, her eye widening with anxiety at the thought of the two men having _that_ conversation.

Atton's mouth quirked up into a half smile as he walked closer to Case. For a moment he simply stood in front of her, taking in every detail there was to see. His hand slowly lifted to her face, tracing gently down her cheek.

"Just stay with me; you can do this. You're not alone," he murmured softly.

"Yeah," Case said unconvincingly. She shifted under his touch.

"The future… it's always shifting," Atton said, searching for the right words; he looked down at her with intense eyes, "but you cut like a blade through it."

"Getting cryptic," Case scolded lightly, trying to smile and failing.

"Just hang on, okay; if you refuse to let go, no one can take you down," Atton said. He knew. "Don't drop into the abyss just yet."

Case glanced up at him, her eyes widening with fear. "That abyss… it's all I see," she whispered, "It's always there, opening to swallow me whole. And there's nowhere else to go but in. Everything else has been destroyed. And I'm alone."

"Not today, you're not," Atton said, his voice edged.

"Every day."

"No." Atton cupped the back of her neck and tilted her head toward his. He wanted to tell her that he would never leave, that she wouldn't have to be alone.

"This is all there is. Just me and the dark," Case said.

"Not today. Today you have me." _And for always… To hell and back._

_

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_Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate if you'd drop me a quick review and let me know what you thought. :D


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